The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has impacted us all. Whether you're working from home as a social distancing measure, in self-isolation, or your current position has been cut short, it's a challenging time.
As a digital recruitment business, we speak to industry leaders every day. So we’re well positioned to share insights into how our clients are dealing with the situation.
First up, we had the privilege of speaking to Telstra Business award finalist Alcuin Hacker, Founder of Engage & Experience, the leading NFP experience consultancy. Alcuin was kind enough to share some insights into his business and their continuity planning.
How are your teams working?
Our first consideration was to speak to our geographically dispersed team members to ensure they feel supported. A number of our team have elderly family so the usual day-to-day interactions have changed.
We decided to run key workshops using video conference, created routines around standups, and are checking in with our workmates daily.
As the situation changes almost hourly, we’ve been forced to continually question the value of the projects and activities we’re working on, which means we’re always focussing on the core value to our clients.
This is something we’ve always prided ourselves on, but it becomes especially important at times like these. What we’ve found is that if a project is worth doing, it’s still worth doing during COVID-19.
What opportunities are being created?
One of the major opportunities for us all is to use the time ahead to focus on important tasks that usually get trumped by the urgent BAU – so improvement of systems, processes and reporting is key, and very often don’t require massive investment.
If there’s a slowdown in sales and marketing, it's a great opportunity to build on your investment by improving current systems – and a great opportunity for strong BAs and PMs.
Looking outside our business I can see companies who’ve built collaboration tools will be well positioned, they’ll be able to offer some fantastic solutions for companies like ours who have staff based all across Australia, whether or not there’s a crisis.
What advice can you give to staff or candidates at the moment?
Now more than ever you need to find your niche and be the very best you can every day. You should be asking yourself “how do I ensure that everything I do hits the mark and adds real value?” putting this at the heart of everything you do.
Think creatively, go further, do more than your position description asks and become a subject matter expert not just a project professional. More than anything, be collaborative, patient and kind.
Alcuin Hacker helps NFPs unlock lost revenue, increase supporter engagement and optimise their CRM & supporter lifecycle processes. Learn more at engageandexperience.com.au
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